Matt Prater rewind: Remembering La Quinta

3 o'clock in the morning. August 2nd, 2011. Matt Prater and a 22-year old female employee of Shotgun Willie's are sitting in a Chevy Trailblazer in the parking lot of a local Hyatt.

One can only guess the topic of conversation.

Perhaps they are talking about quantum physics.

Perhaps they are talking about what happens when you hit the ball on the laces.

Perhaps they are discussing Prater's crazy night in Tijuana.

Perhaps Prater realizes he left his condoms in the dresser at his parent's house.

One thing is true, though: Prater's blood alcohol content will later be determined to be 0.142, which is the equivalent of more than six drinks for a man his size. You can imagine where it goes from here.

Prater smacks the Trailblazer into a car and flees the scene. There are no fewer than four witnesses.

When cops arrive and interview the 22-year-old woman, she tells them Prater left her at the Hyatt. Too bad for Prater. If he could have only driven properly, he might have scored more than a field goal that night.

Cops then find a Broncos parking permit inside the Trailblazer and a bag full of footballs, but no Prater. He fled, but forgot to hide his balls - his big, giant, leather balls.

At this point, cops search for Prater. They find him (naturally) at a nearby La Quinta, which, in Spanish means, "stupid kicker." Prater insists he hasn't been drinking for awhile, but the cops can smell something on his breath, and from his stumbling and slurring, they are sure it's not a couple of Tic Tacs.

Prater fails his sobriety test miserably in his hotel room. What started out as a sure thing ended up a very bad thing as evidenced from the quote Prater gave police: "I really messed up...I'm going to lose my job."

Prater ended up being wrong then; the Broncos kept him around.

La Quinta's corporate tag line is: Wake up on the bright side.

Prater won't be doing that for awhile. Instead, he'll probably be waking up unemployed.

There will always be close games. This is the NFL but yes we do have the most prolific offense in the game. That said, you can't actually think that winning by 2-3 points is not actually winning because we have Peyton Manning.

Anyway, 'nuf said on the subject. We see it differently and I don't claim to be right just my opinion.

Posted by Broncologist on 2014-08-25 16:11:25

I just do not think worrying about a 50 yard FG is worth 3mil additional is worth it. I'd rather cut the drunk and find a decent FG kicker that can consistently kick it into the stands on kick offs not matter what stadium we are in.

I'm guessing over the year that will save us 2 returns for TDs and probably another 50 points in short field drives after long returns.

If manning needs a cheap FG to win then IMO. We do not deserve to win.

When manning goes away then I'll worry about finding a top kicker. Until then I suspect we will win most games by 14 or more. Unless fox goes conservative on us and then Plays prevent.

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2014-08-25 15:53:38

Funny enough we feel the same way about the kicking game. That said, a season can hang on the foot of one man. Yes, kicking it through the end zone is a piece, but a FG can be the difference.

You don't want to cheap out on this position; I know that much. I agree wholeheartedly we overpay for both of our specialists but such is the NFL.

Posted by Broncologist on 2014-08-25 13:35:12

Lol. Yes, like that exact kick which you wouldn't have expected from Prater, but I would have from 25 other Kickers in the league, including and especially Jay Feely.

Mistakes happen, kickers are far from perfect, but we do not want to be a team without a reliable kicker. It is possible that I have him overrated after 1 good season but he has made some clutch kicks in the past and while he has had his share of issues ('11, '12), he seems far better than a retread from another team.

Posted by Broncologist on 2014-08-25 13:28:15

I agree,

Imo prater is a waste of a roster spot not sure Colquitt is worth the money either.

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2014-08-25 10:55:25

I think this is just stupid to pay 6.25 million extra the next couple of years. To maybe have his services, because the next stupid thing he does is 16 games.

Find another FG if you feel the need to have someone as insurance. for that possible 50 yarder that is not how I want to win games.

With our offense this coming year and the defense we should be winning games by 14 plus points unless Fox does something dumb and play prevent, when we are up by 20+ points.

IMO FG guys are a pox on a football team get us a kicker that can consistently put the ball Out of the end zone on kick offs that eliminates giving up good field position OR TDs on returns.

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2014-08-25 10:53:22

You mean like the 52-yarder he totally flubbed against Baltimore two years ago? The one that gave the Ravens prime field position and started a 10-point swing that consumed mere seconds?

Posted by Douglas Lee on 2014-08-25 10:43:48

Sorry but that is just stupid. We need a kicker that can make field goals. We aren't going to win every single game by double digits.

Did we overpay? Probably. But if it's the AFC Championship game and we have to make a 50-yarder to go to the SB, we want Prater kicking it not some schmuck from the waiver wire.

Posted by Broncologist on 2014-08-25 09:16:55

We would have a. 1.6 in dead mnponey but would save 3 mil this year and A full 3.25 next year

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2014-08-25 06:58:02

How many last year?

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2014-08-25 06:55:57

Yes that should be the standard for football player, wait he is a kicker. Sorry but tats are the last on a long list of prerequisites for choosing a kicker.

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2014-08-25 06:55:18

Sorry I have zero use for a FG kicker in Mannings offense, as I mentioned above give me a CHEAP thru the end zone kick off guy and never worry About prater again.

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2014-08-25 06:53:20

Who cares if he is picked up?

With manning we should be able to score inside the redzone if we can't what good does 3 points do.

How many games last year were won because of a FG?

With a better defense this coming year game should even be a bigger spread.

Make that team go from inside their 15 if we can't pick it up on 4th inside the RZ. Odds ar we are going to get it back mwith good field,position and be able to score again. The longer there defense is in the field the better for us.

Let snot whine about losing a severely overpriced player that is a couple of shots away from 16 games.

Worry in Manning offenses I have almost xpzero use for a FG kicker.

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2014-08-25 06:51:37

Frigginn iPad/disqus freeze.

I hate cheap FGs to win. A few year from now when Manning has retired then spend the money ona MONEY FG guy but till then give me the Über strong leg that outs it thru the uprights out of the end zone on kick offs.

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2014-08-25 06:43:14

One can only hope they save Themselves 3,000,000.00 in cap value THIS year and even more next year.

I simple do not care about FG kicking. I'd rathe either go for it or punt (hoping for coffin corner kicks) . If it is close in and we would have missed a chip shot they are pinned back deep in their side of the field. Let them have to drive 90 yards to score to keep up with Manning and company.

All I want is a kicker that can kick off through the end zone EVERYTIME no matter what stadium we are in. No returns for great field position or quick TDs that way.

IMO that is much more important than a cheap 3.

If a FG would win the game in the final seconds chances are we did not deserve to win anyway.

Nothing I hate more than a

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2014-08-25 06:39:43

He would be picked up immediately.

Furthermore do you actually think there is a better kicker out on the street without a job? Hauschka is the exception. Most teams, notably San Francisco, have an issue finding a reliable foot. There is no way our Front office takes that chance unless there is some crazy trade made.

So, is my imagination, or is Prater working on a pretty good beer gut? Between the gut and the tattoos, I thought maybe I'd missed the news about the Broncos trading forJanikowski.

Posted by DCJ1 on 2014-08-24 22:12:32

Somebody on MHR mentioned that his first kick, the one that did go through albeit with an awkward trajectory, was almost blocked by JJ Watt, which would indeed explain at least some of last night´s problems.

I dunno about zero chance. I posted this on another thread too, but since he will be suspended, his salary for the season is not guaranteed. The Broncos could cut him and not have to pay him. If we get some guy in there that lights it up the first four games, Prater could be out of a job.

Posted by QDoc on 2014-08-24 20:41:03

Matt Prater's tattoos are so bad ass!!

Posted by WhoShotBobbyHumphrey on 2014-08-24 19:20:20

Was this on his mind yesterday? I just can't understand, unless he was drunk again, how he could have been so off.